A complaint has been registered with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Karnataka Lokayukta police against B.S. Prahlad, chief engineer, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), alleging that he received money from a contractor to his wife’s bank account in return for clearing a bill for work done in the civic body.
According to the complaint filed by civic activist S. Bhaskaran, a copy of which has been accessed by The Hindu, the company identified as Sri Lakshmi Constructions transferred ₹70 lakh to the bank account of the spouse of Mr. Prahlad in August 2023, following which in September, the BBMP cleared two pending bills to the tune of ₹3.66 crore pertaining to job codes 006-21-000004 and 006-21-000005 of the company.
The complaint alleged that in one instance, Mr. Prahlad’s wife received ₹70 lakh in her bank account from the account of Sri Lakshmi Construction in August. The development works in ward number 6 (Jakkur) were executed in 2021 and the bills cleared on September 26, 2023.
In his complaint, Mr. Bhaskaran alleged that this was a kickback for clearing pending bills. Mr. Bhaskaran said he will also move the court if the agencies fail to act upon his complaint. However, sources in the ED confirmed that they had launched a preliminary probe into the case.
When quizzed over the issue, Mr. Prahlad, while admitting that the money was transferred to the account of his wife, said it was taken as a deposit for the property he leased to the contractor identified as S.R. Manjunath.
The property in question (number 46/186) is located in Kadathanamale village, Doddaballapura main road in Marasandra. The property has a site and factory building measuring 9,000 sq.ft and a two-storey commercial building.
Mr. Prahlad further said he was unaware during the time of lease agreement that the person in question was a contractor with the BBMP. “When I learnt that there was an issue being made out in this connection, I returned the money to the contractor,” he said.
Mr. Manjunath, the contractor, claimed that it was an advance given by him to Mr. Prahlad’s wife for taking the property on lease. “I did not inform the official that I worked for the BBMP by mistake,” he said.
